surge

Pluralsurges

Formssurges, surging, surged

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A sudden, short-lived rush, flood, or increase in something.

   The festival saw a surge in visitors over the holiday weekend.

   A surge of adrenaline helped her finish the race.

   Similartorrent

   Oppositedrop, decline, slump

2. 2
   verbintransitive

   To rush forward, flood, or increase suddenly.

   Fans surge forward as the gates open.

   Donations surged in the hours after the appeal aired.

   Similarrush, pour, soar, rocket, swell

   Oppositedrop, fall, plummet

3. 3
   verbintransitive

   To accelerate forward, especially in a sudden burst.

   The boat surged forward as the engine roared to life.

   Sprinters surge from the blocks the instant they hear the gun.

   Similarshoot, lunge, leap, spring, accelerate

   Oppositedecelerate, slow

   Note

   Ship motion has three names, and this is the forward one: a ship surges forwards, sways sideways and heaves up. The same word gives the measured forward-and-back swing of a vehicle. Away from ships it suits any burst of forward speed, especially in sport; a BBC match report of 2011 has Bale surging into the box. Forward or into usually follows it.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A sudden spike or increase in voltage and current in an electrical system.

   The lightning strike caused a surge that damaged several appliances.

   Engineers installed devices to absorb voltage surges along the line.

   Similarspike

   Oppositesag, dip

   Note

   Electricians' everyday word for a brief jump in load: a power surge, a voltage surge, a surge of current. It need not signal a fault. Cecil J. Allen, writing on diesel locomotives in Trains Illustrated in 1959, uses surges of current for the normal jumps at starting or up the steepest gradients, when the ammeter climbed from about 1,600 to 1,800 amps.

5. 5
   nounUScountablebefore a noun

   A rapid deployment of personnel in large numbers at short notice.

   The administration approved a troop surge to stabilize the region.

   A surge of reinforcements arrived within forty-eight hours.

   Similarinflux, buildup

   Oppositedrawdown, withdrawal

   Note

   An American naval and military term that most often stands before another noun: surge capacity, a surge fleet, surge deployment capabilities. Used this way it describes readiness, meaning what can be sent quickly and in large numbers, rather than any single rush of forces. Standing alone, as in a troop surge, it names the deployment itself.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   The swell or heaving motion of the sea.

   The vessel rode the surge as long swells rolled beneath the hull.

   Each surge of the open sea heaved the ship up and down.

   Similarswell, heave, roll

   Note

   The image behind the whole word is rising. Middle English surgen probably came through French from Old French surgir, "to rise, ride near the shore, arrive, land," and ultimately from Latin surgō, "lift up, raise." At sea it means the heave of the water itself. In the plural it served poets as a word for waves: Dryden's Virgil of 1697 "pursues the foaming surges to the shore."

7. 7
   nouncountable

   The maximum extent of a vehicle's forward-and-backward oscillation.

   The sensors recorded the surge as the truck braked sharply.

   Designers worked to reduce the surge felt by passengers during acceleration.

8. 8
   nouncountable

   A momentary reversal of airflow through a jet engine's compressor, caused by disrupted intake air and marked by loud bangs, flames, and a brief loss of thrust.

   The crew reported a compressor surge shortly after takeoff.

   A surge sent a burst of flame from the intake and the thrust dropped.

   Note

   Here the word names a failure rather than a gain in power. Air that should pass back through the compressor briefly runs the wrong way. The trouble starts at the intake, when incoming air is disrupted. The full name, compressor surge, keeps it apart from the everyday sense of a rush or increase. The matching verb describes the engine going through it.

9. 9
   verbintransitive

   Of a jet engine, to undergo a momentary reversal of airflow through the compressor when the intake air is disrupted.

   The engine surged violently as the aircraft climbed steeply.

   Compressors can surge when the intake airflow becomes unstable.

   Note

   The verb partner of the compressor-surge noun. It never takes an object, and its subject is an engine or its compressor: the engine surged, compressors can surge. One cause is worth knowing. Using maximum reverse thrust at low speed can make an engine surge by ingesting its own exhaust, so the disrupted intake air comes from the aircraft itself.

10. 10
    nouncountable

    The tapered section of a windlass barrel or capstan on which the cable slips.

    The cable rode over the surge as the crew eased the tension.

    He guided the line onto the surge of the windlass barrel.

    Note

    A piece of ship's gear named for what happens on it: the cable surges, or slips, over this tapered stretch of the windlass barrel or capstan. The noun and the verb for easing a line belong together. The taper is where a crew lets a cable slip instead of holding it fast.

11. 11
    verbtransitive

    To slacken or let out a line, easing its tension.

    The crew surged the cable as the anchor settled.

    Surge the mooring line to give the boat more slack.

    Similarslacken, ease

    Oppositetighten

    Note

    A deck command rather than a description: the crew surges a line or cable, easing it out to take off tension. Unlike the everyday verb of rushing, it takes an object. The word fits the gear. Lines are surged around a capstan or windlass, and the tapered part of that barrel is itself called a surge.

Showing meanings only. Show all 12